Gary Chan, 17, is an AP student in his senior year at Agoura High School. He started studying piano at the age of six and is currently studying with Edward Francis. He has performed and competed at both the local and international level. Last summer, Gary was accepted into the Oberlin International Piano Competition and Festival, and in March of 2007, he was accepted into the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition in both the solo and concerto categories. In 2006, he was one of the 8 winners in the United States to receive a scholarship from The Chopin Foundation of the United States. Gary was a semi-finalist for the 2007 Spotlight Awards at the L.A. Music Center, and was recently named a semi-finalist again for the same competition. Gary also received honorable mention at the 2007 Glendale Piano Competition and won first place in the CAPMT Romantic/ Impressionistic Piano Competition held at CSUN. He placed 3rd in the statewide MTAC concerto competition held at Chapman University in April of 2006. In 2005, he was a winner of the Artist of Tomorrow Competition and had the opportunity to perform the Chopin Concerto No. 2 with the Brentwood Westwood Symphony Orchestra.

     Additionally, he has been a three-time scholarship recipient from the Leni Fe Bland Music Foundation. Other notable performances include playing in four concerts with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic, playing in the Certificate of Merit Panel Honors Recital at the 2006 MTAC State Convention in Los Angeles, and performing at the Ventura Music Festival. In 2004, Gary was the winner of The Young Pianist Competition and performed with the Conejo Valley Youth Orchestra. That year, he also won first place in the Open Category of the SYMF. Lastly, Gary has performed for various internationally distinguished artists including Jerome Lowenthal of The Juilliard School, Christopher Elton of London’s Royal Academy of Music, Arnaldo Cohen of the Indiana University School of Music, John Perry of USC, and renowned artist Jon Kimura Parker. He also attends the Honors Performance Seminar at the Colburn School.

     In addition to playing piano, Gary has studied the violin with Dianne Rammon for the past six years. He is also a 1st violinist in the Conejo Valley Youth Orchestra.

     Academically, Gary is a member of the California Scholarship Federation. He is also a member of the Math Honor Society at his school. In his spare time, Gary enjoys listening to classical music and playing video games. He also has a second degree black belt in karate. His other hobbies include swimming and playing basketball.